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Variations of a software package might reside on your system simultaneously. Each variation of a package is known as an ``instance'' and is treated as a separate entity. Three parameters, defined by the package developer, combine to uniquely identify each entity.
These parameters are:
For example, two versions of a package that run on the same system might be identified as:
PKG="abbr" PKG="abbr.1" VERSION="4.2 v1" VERSION="4.2 v1.1" ARCH="(386)" ARCH="(386)"
You cannot install on the same system two instances of a package that have the same package abbreviation (PKG).
Each package instance has a ``package identifier''. This ID maps the three identifying parameters to one name, the name of this package instance on your system.